Cooking oven chamber

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a cooking oven chamber with at least one cooking level, two mutually opposite side walls ( 14, 16 ) and at least one pull-out system ( 28, 30, 32 ) that is positioned on a first side wall ( 16 ) for guiding at least one retaining device ( 8 ), serving to hold at least one food carrier ( 10, 12 ), between a cooking position in which the said minimum of one food carrier ( 10, 12 ) is inside the oven chamber ( 2 ) and a servicing position in which the minimum of one food carrier ( 10, 12 ) is partly or completely outside the oven chamber ( 2 ).

This invention relates to a cooking oven chamber.

DE 102 41 487 A1, whose content is hereby referred to in its entirety, describes a cooking oven chamber with one or several shelf supports that are positioned in one or several planes and

-   -   are designed to accept one or several removable and         interchangeable food carriers at one or several levels in the         area facing the chamber back panel, and     -   permit, on and/or by means of a first set of guides positioned         on mutually opposite wall panels and/or on the roof panel and/or         on the bottom of the cooking-oven chamber, essentially         horizontal movement between a rearward position in which the         food carriers are in the cooking zone and a forward position in         which the food carriers are in the loading/unloading zone.

That cooking-oven chamber offers advantages when designed for accessibility from both sides. One-sided accessibility, however, for instance in a corner, tends to obstruct removal of the food carriers. Moreover, that type of oven chamber is complex, resulting in high costs and low energy efficiency.

It is therefore the objective of this invention to reduce that complexity while improving user friendliness in the interchanging process.

According to the invention, that objective is achieved with the features per claim 1. Enhanced configurations are described in the sub-claims.

The cooking-oven chamber includes at least one cooking level, two mutually opposite side walls and at least one pull-out system mounted on a first side wall for guiding at least one retaining device, serving to hold at least one food carrier in place, between a cooking position of that minimum of one food carrier inside the oven chamber and a servicing position in which said minimum of one food carrier is partly or completely outside the oven chamber.

This permits convenient removal of the food carriers even if the oven chamber is not accessible from two sides. The user does not stand in front of the oven chamber but to the side of it.

The minimum of one food carrier can be held by the minimum of one retaining device, from a first side and especially (cantilevered) in a lateral section facing the first side wall. In the servicing position of the minimum of one retaining device the food carrier can be set on or slid, hung, plugged or latched into that minimum of one retaining device, or removed from it, in particular from an opposite, second side.

The lateral region of the minimum of one food carrier that serves as its retaining section specifically makes up a maximum of one third, specifically a maximum of one fourth or specifically a maximum of one fifth of the extension of the minimum of one food carrier in its axial direction [sic]. Specifically, it encompasses a bottom section and/or a circumferential rim section of the food carrier, with the retaining rim area specifically encompassing a section that extends in a parallel and/or normal pull-out direction of the preferably circumferential rim.

The minimum of one retaining device is preferably provided with first contoured elements that interact with second contoured elements of the minimum of one food carrier, in a manner as to secure the latter in its position.

A single cooking level can accept a single retaining device that is individually guided and can hold one food carrier. For a group of cooking levels one common retaining device can be employed, permitting individually guided movement and capable of holding one food carrier per cooking level. A group may encompass all or some of the (available) cooking levels.

The minimum of one retaining device specifically consists of a pair of holders, positioned parallel to and at a distance from each other in the pull-out direction, with the minimum of one pull-out system preferably consisting of a pair of extending slides positioned parallel to and at a distance from each other perpendicular to the pull-out direction.

The minimum of one pull-out system is preferably designed as a telescoping pull-out mechanism.

The invention also relates to a cooking oven incorporating at least one oven chamber as described above.

The following will explain the concept of this invention in more detail with the aid of an implementation example and with reference to the diagrams in which:

FIG. 1 depicts an oven chamber according to the invention, with an oblique front view of a retracted food carrier and the extending slides;

FIG. 2 is an oblique top view of the outside of the extending slides;

FIG. 3 is a partial illustration of the food-carrier locating system;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the oven chamber;

FIG. 5 is a top view of the retracted food carrier.

The oven chamber 2 features a chamber enclosure 4, a pull-out system 6 and a retaining device 8 supporting the food carriers 10, 12.

The oven chamber 4 consists of mutually parallel side walls 14, 16, a bottom panel 18, a top panel 20, a back wall 22 and a loading port 24.

The pull-out system 6 includes two dual extending slides 26 with fixed tracks 28 that accept moving tracks 30 which on their part guide moving tracks 32. The fixed tracks 28 are positioned, spaced vertically one above the other, on the side wall 16 and extend in an at least essentially horizontal direction.

The retaining device 8 consists of two holding bars 34 which, at a horizontal distance from each other, are respectively mounted on the two outer moving tracks 32 and feature, one above the other, food carrier seats 36.

The food carrier 10 is a broiling grill, the food carrier 12 is a grease drip pan.

The food carrier seat 36 is in the form of a slot that can accept the broiling grill 10, which latter is thus supported on the bottom by a lower section 38 of the slot 36 while its top is braced against a bracket 40 laterally extending from the slot 36. The lower section 38 of the slot 36 is formed on the top side of a tab 42 that points in the direction of the broiling grill 10 and from whose bottom side the bracket 40 extends away from the oven chamber 2. Further in the direction of the broiling grill 10 the top surfaces of the tabs 42 are provided with recesses 44 that accept the laterally crimped sections 46 of lattice rods 48 which delimit the perimeter of the broiling grill 10. The positive seating of the sections 46 in the recesses 44 locks the broiling grill 10 in place in both horizontal axial directions.

Located underneath the food carrier seats 36 for the broiling grill 10 are additional food carrier seats 36 for the placement of the grease drip pan 12. Here, the function performed by the circumferential lattice rod 48 in the case of the broiling grill 10 is performed by the circumferential rim 50 of the grease drip pan 12.

The mode of operation is as follows:

When a user wants to insert a broiling grill 10 in the oven chamber 2, he will first grab the front holding bar 34 in order to pull it, along with the tracks 30 and 32, out of the loading port 24 far enough to also bring the rear holding bar 34 to the front of the loading port.

He then holds the broiling grill 10 at the two sides that extend parallel to the back wall and pushes it into the slots 36 in the normal withdrawal direction until it butts against the holding bar 34, whereby the circumferential lattice rod 48 braces itself downward against the sections 38 of the lower tabs 42 and upward against the brackets 40 of the upper tabs 42, with the crimped sections of the lattice rod 48 engaged in the recesses 44 of the tabs 42.

In so doing the user is not standing in front of the oven chamber but to the side of it. Nor does he look into the oven chamber but perhaps at a kitchen wall which in this case may be located directly behind the opposite side wall of the oven chamber and thus directly behind the pulled-out extending slides without interfering with the loading process.

The broiling grill thus locked in position is now pushed into the oven chamber 2 so that, after the door, not illustrated, of the loading port 24 is closed, the cooking process can be initiated.

The one-sided manipulation (on the right or left side wall of the oven chamber) permits more convenient handling when interchanging food carriers in the oven chamber. By the same token, it can be operated by handicapped persons, permitting convenient loading and unloading of the food carriers for instance from a wheelchair. Compared to two-sided operation (on the right as well as the left side wall of the oven chamber), it is less expensive to make and, having fewer metal parts, it offers greater energy efficiency.

The extending slides may be firmly mounted on a support structure that can be inserted, first at an angle of about 45 degrees, in the upper area of the oven chamber 2 for instance in two perforations and then tilted down to be locked in place in the lower area for instance with a knurled knob. All this can be done on the right or on the left wall of the oven chamber depending on the user's preference. In the same manner in which the food carriers permit positive connection to the holding bars, the holding bars can be connected in positive fashion to the tracks.

In embodiments not illustrated, it is also possible to provide for each cooking level a lateral extending slide or a lateral pair of extending slides with one or several food carrier seats, each for a single food carrier, in which case all extending slides are positioned on one side, permitting individually independent shifting between a cooking position and a servicing position. 

1. Cooking oven chamber with at least one cooking level, two mutually opposite side walls (14, 16) and at least one pull-out system (28, 30, 32) that is positioned on a first side wall (16) for guiding at least one retaining device (8), serving to hold at least one food carrier (10, 12), between a cooking position in which the said minimum of one food carrier (10, 12) is inside the oven chamber (2) and a servicing position in which the minimum of one food carrier (10, 12) is partly or completely outside the oven chamber (2).
 2. Oven chamber as in claim 1, in which the minimum of one food carrier (10, 12) can be held by the minimum of one retaining device (8), from a first side, in a lateral area oriented toward the first side wall (16).
 3. Oven chamber as in claim 1, in which, when the minimum of one retaining device (8) is in the servicing position, the minimum of one food carrier (10, 12) can be inserted, slid, hung, plugged and/or latched into or removed from the minimum of one retaining device (8) from an opposite second side.
 4. Oven chamber as in claim 2 or 3, in which the lateral region of the minimum of one food carrier (10, 12) that serves as its retaining section specifically constitutes a maximum of one third, specifically a maximum of one fourth or specifically a maximum of one fifth of the extension of the minimum of one food carrier (10, 12) in its axial direction.
 5. Oven chamber as in claim 4, in which the lateral region of the minimum of one food carrier (10, 12) that serves as the retaining area encompasses a section of a bottom part and/or of a circumferential rim of the food carrier (10, 12).
 6. Oven chamber as in claim 5, in which the retaining section of said rim encompasses a section of the preferably circumferential rim that extends in a parallel and/or normal pull-out direction of the circumferential rim.
 7. Oven chamber as in claim 1, in which the minimum of claim 1, in which the minimum retaining device (8) is provided with first contoured elements (36, 38, 40, 42, 44) that interact with second contoured elements (46) of the minimum of one, first food carrier (10) so as to secure the latter in its position.
 8. Oven chamber as in claim 1, in which one cooking level is served by one retaining device that can be individually guided and is capable of accepting only one food carrier.
 9. Oven chamber as in claim 1, in which a group of cooking levels are served by one common retaining device (8), permitting individually guided movement and capable of holding one food carrier (10, 12) per cooking level.
 10. Oven chamber as in claim 9, in which a group may encompass all or some of the cooking levels.
 11. Oven chamber as in claim 1, in which the minimum of one retaining device (8) consists of a pair of holders (34), positioned parallel to and at a distance from each other in the pull-out direction.
 12. Oven chamber as in claim 1, in which the minimum of one pull-out system (6) consists of a pair of extending slides (28, 30, 32) positioned parallel to the pull-out direction and perpendicularly at a distance from each other.
 13. Oven chamber as in claim 1, in which the minimum of one pull-out system (6) is designed as a telescoping pull-out mechanism.
 14. Cooking oven incorporating at least one oven chamber according to claim
 1. 